


Somewhere In-Between (A Pokemon White Fanfiction)

by Silver_Wolverine



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: (might have some heavier angst later), Bisexual Character, Childhood Friends, F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Humor, Light Angst, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Journey, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-02-18 15:09:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18702067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Wolverine/pseuds/Silver_Wolverine
Summary: We all know the story of Pokémon Black and White. But what would it be like with a different protagonist? Probably still largely the same, but I'm hoping that you'll enjoy the ride anyway. Meet Estelle, a hot-headed, exuberant girl with a thirst for adventure! Join her, as we go through her journey in the Unova region!Cross-Posted on Quotev (for now at least)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Pokemon (even though I wish I did).

Most people in the Unova region are aware of the story of Reshiram and Zekrom. They used to be a single Dragon Pokémon, shared by two brothers, heroes that used this Pokémon to create the Unova region.

However, they didn’t see eye to eye.

The older brother sought truths, the younger sought ideals. This caused the brothers to fight, resulting in a war plaguing the Unova region.

The Dragon Pokémon the brothers shared split into two separate entities. They came to be known as Reshiram, the Pokémon that valued truths, and Zekrom, one that valued ideals. Predictably, Reshiram sided with the older brother, and Zekrom with the younger.

Fire and lightning raged across the land as they fought, but the twin dragons were equally matched. So, the brothers claimed that no side was right and set aside their differences.

But the brothers’ sons continued to fight, destroying the Unova region further.

Seeing all the damage they had caused, the dragons disappeared.

This tale is regarded as a mere myth. A simple legend passed down from generation to generation. But it is much truer than people may realize.

But for now, I have a tale of my own to tell. One that will later relate to the one I just told. It’s a story about friendship, about love, and the joys and sorrows that come with adventure.

It all started in a small town known as Nuvema Town, where three youths will soon begin their Pokémon journey.


	2. Chapter One: A New Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, even though I wish I did.

 

 

            **Estelle’s POV-**

 _‘Ugh! I can’t take this waitin’ anymore! It’s been an hour; why isn’t she here yet?!’_ I slumped a bit more into the couch, seriously thinking about finding Bianca and just dragging her here.

 _‘But noooo, we gotta_ wait _for her ‘cause_ this _asshole_ – _‘_ I glared over at where Cheren sat, reading a dictionary or something _‘_ – _just up ’n decided “Oh, we’re just gonna wait here ‘til we’re all gray and_ not _meet our future Pokémon partners this century”.’_ I blew some hair outta my face for probably the seventh time in the past half-hour.

“You know, glaring at me won’t make time go by faster,” Cheren remarked listlessly as he turned another page.

I stopped glaring at him and turned to watch Althea, my mom’s Reuniclus, helping herself to some Poképuffs. “Well it’s gonna have to! At this rate, we’ll all be dust by the time she gets here! I’d rather actually have a Pokémon before I become one.”

Cheren groaned tiredly at that. “For the last time, people don’t turn into Ghost Pokémon when they die.”

“HA! Like hell they don’t.”

I could practically hear him rolling his eyes at me before turning his attention back to what he was reading, which only served to remind me of how bored I was just sitting there.

 _‘Y’know what? Fuck it. I’m tired of waiting.’_ I stood up and power-walked towards the front door. Unfortunately, my plan was foiled by a certain black-haired nerd grabbing my wrist.

“Ughhh. C’mon Cher, it’s been an hour! Knowin’ Bianca, she prob’ly forgot about today,” I groaned, trying to pull my arm away. But I underestimated his death grip and now I’m dragging him with me to the door.

“Estelle, you can wait just a little longer!” Cheren shouted, digging his heels into the carpet.

“How in th’ hell are ya not bothered by this?!” I growled at him, still trying to get to the door while dragging him along with me.

He clicked his tongue at that, grumbling something under his breath that I couldn’t quite hear (but if I were a betting woman, I’d say he was probably sassing me as always).

Just then, his X-Transceiver started ringing. _‘Haha! Looks like Lady Luck’s smilin’ down on me today!’_ While he was distracted, I broke out of his grip and sprinted to the door!

My plan was to run out, go to Bianca’s house, and drag her back over to my place. But then the door suddenly opened and my head just so happened to collide with it. _‘Never mind. Lady Luck is bullshit…’_

“Es-Estelle?! I’m so sorry!” a voice I knew belonged to the exact person I was looking for yelled out.

“Careful, Bianca. You might’ve just killed the last of her brain cells,” Cheren said with an annoying smirk on his face.

 _‘Gee, I love ya too, Cher… Now as for Bianca…’_ I shot my head up after finally shaking off the pain and grabbed Bianca by the shoulders. “Where were ya, Bel?! We’ve been waiting here for the past hour!”

“I-I’m sorry! My parents wanted me to clean my room first; you know how long that takes me,” she yelled apologetically, throwing her hands up to her hair. “Also, I couldn’t decide what to wear today, so that also took me forever! Then I thought we were meetin-meeting up by Cheren’s place, so I spent another half hour waiting outside for you to show and I realized I didn’t have lunch yet. So, I left again to take care of that, and that’s when I remembered we were supposed to meet up here! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so—”

“BIANCA!” Cheren and I interrupted her at the same time, and he continued, sighing, “It’s fine, really! But you’re rambling again.”

“I’m sor—” _‘Oh bordel de merde...’_

“Bel! You don’t hafta apologize a billion times! We get it! I’ll just come pick ya up next time,” I said, feeling a bit bad about snapping at her. “But that’s not why we’re here! I’ve been waitin’ long enough!”

I grabbed my two best friends by the wrists and started dragging them to the stairs. “Now come on, you two, I wanna meet the Pokémon already! And Altie, cool it on those Poképuffs!” I heard a vaguely sassy grunt from Althea as I pulled Cheren and Bianca over to my room.

When we got there, a blue box with a sparkly, green bow stared us in the face, just begging for us to tear it open. Bianca leaned against my dresser, asking no one in particular, “Since the Professor brought the Pokémon here, shouldn’t Estelle get first pick?”

“Naturally,” Cheren confirmed. I didn’t need to be told twice. I threw the little notecard on the ribbon to Cheren, which he read aloud (something about deciding fairly), and I opened the box to reveal three Pokéballs!

 _‘It’s happening! It’s finally happening!!!’_ I cheered in my head. “Alrighty then! Who am I gonna choose?” I grinned, my face shining with glee. “Gee, this is more exciting than the time I borrowed pops’ Flygon!”

As I hovered over the Pokéballs, Cheren called out, “I’m pretty sure that counted as stealing.”

I scoffed at that. “Not _stealing_. Pops and I ‘re related and Flygon followed me anyway, so it was borrowing. Without askin’, but the principle’s th’ same.” I could practically hear him rolling his eyes behind me (again) as Bianca giggled. I stared at the Pokéballs in the box a little more before finally reaching a decision.

“Alrighty! I’ve decided!” I shouted and took the right-most ball. “I’m going with the Water-type, Oshawott!” Not willing to wait for another second, I threw the Pokéball up into the air. And with a red glow, out came my new Pokémon partner! He landed on the table, looking around at his surroundings before finally turning his attention to me.

I waved at the Pokémon. “Hey there, little guy! Looks like I’m your new Trainer.” Oshawott’s eyes seemed to sparkle at that as he grinned an adorable fanged grin, melting my heart into a puddle on the floor. I took him up into my arms, spinning around while squealing happily, “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!!! I’M FINALLY A POKÉMON TRAINER!!!”

“Umm… Estelle, I get th-that you’re happy – really, I do – but…you’re making Oshawott dizzy…” I heard Bianca interrupt.

I looked down at the little Water-type in my arms to see him practically green in the face. “Oh…” I laughed nervously, “Sorry, Oshawott!”

Cheren sighed at that, “Be more careful, Estelle! You might be weirdly immune to vertigo, but the rest of us aren’t!”

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. “Yeah. I know, I know.”

My adorable hat-wearing friend clapped her hands together with a blinding smile on her face. “Okay! I’m going to pick Tepig!” She pretty much floated over to the box and took the Pokéball in the middle while throwing the last ball to Cheren. “And Cheren gets Snivy!”

He fumbled with the Pokéball he hurriedly caught in his hands before finally getting a good grasp on it. “Hey, who said you could pick for me?” Cheren pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, sighing, “And what’s with you guys throwing things at me today?”

“Well, Bianca chose her Pokémon. So, it’s only natural that ya get left with th’ one left over, yeah?” I began, “As for the throwin’ stuff, we just think it’s fun!” I finished with a smile.

“You think it’s fun,” Bianca protested.

“Details, details.” I waved my hand dismissively.

He sighed (‘ _Geez, just how much sighin’ is he gonna do?_ ’) and finally relented with,” Well, I was planning on choosing Snivy anyways, so I guess this is fine.”

 Then, I had a thought and chuckled. “So, we all have Pokémon now…”

“…Where are you going with this?” Cheren asked, feeling suspicious.

I just laughed once again and replied with, “Well, we’re Trainers now. It’s kinda natural that we battle, y’know?”

My best friends blinked at that, then sighed in relief. _‘What did they think I was gonna say?’_ I thought for a second. Cheren spoke up once again. “Well if that’s all, you didn’t have to go through with the whole evil laugh schtick you do.”

“Hey!”

He ignored my interruption and was about to say something else, when Bianca went ahead and interrupted him back. “I, for one, think that’s a great idea!” She let out her Tepig and adjusted that huge hat on her head. “Alright! I’m ready for battle, Estelle!”

“Wait, hang on a second!” Cheren yelled before I could do the same. “We can’t just start a battle inside; we’ll make a huge mess in here.”

I waved my hand dismissively at him. “Aw, c’mon, Cher! My room’s pretty big anyways; it can handle a couple battles.”

Bianca agreed with me, saying, “Besides, this is Estelle’s room we’re talking about! It can’t possibly get any messier!”

I pointedly ignored that little comment, finishing with, “So, no worries, yeah?”

He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at me before going to sit on the bed. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I grinned at him finally relenting. “That’s the ticket!” I looked down at the Oshawott by my feet and asked him to get ready for a couple battles. He stood across from the opposing Tepig, and that’s when I decided to take the first move…

Buuuut, there’s one teeny, tiny little problem here… And it looks like Bianca had the same thought I did. We turned to Cheren with sheepish grins on our faces, as we asked at the same time, “So, what are Oshawott’s/Tepig’s moves again?”

“…You can’t be serious…” he stared at us with a disbelieving look on his face. Cheren sighed for the 17th time since he got here (yes, I counted) and told us our Pokémon’s moves. It’s times like these where Cheren’s nerdiness is very appreciated.

So again, I decided to take the first move. “Alrighty, Oshawott! Let’s start this off with a Tackle!” At that, Oshawott shot forward and though Tepig tried his best to dodge, Oshawott was able to slam into him with all his might. This caused Tepig to skid back a little, taking the rug under him with him. “ALRIGHT! CRITICAL HIT! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” I cheered. _‘This’s already off to a great start!’_

“Uh oh! Umm, uh, Tepig, you Tackle him too!” Tepig shook off the hit and rammed his head into Oshawott’s while he was still close by, sending the little Water-type into a potted plant and snapping the branch in two!

 _‘This is getting more exciting by the second! Ahhh! This is my first Pokémon battle!!!’_ I only half-noticed the huge grin on my face, since I was still reeling over the fact that this was all really happening.

“Good job, Tepig!” Bianca praised her new Pokémon, then yelled out another command. “Now catch them off guard with a Tail Whip!” Tepig approached Oshawott again, but instead of maybe hitting him with his tail like I expected, Tepig just…wagged his tail? _‘The hell?’_ Oshawott looked unimpressed to say the least. Well, this might be a good chance to attack again.

“Tackle ‘im again, bud!” I shouted, still a bit confused about the whole tail wagging thing. Oshawott brushed off some of the dirt from the plant he crashed into, then returned the headbutt from before. Tepig’s starting to look a lot more tired, but that look on his face said a million words, and none of them said anything about throwing in the towel just yet.

This continued for several more minutes, exchanging blow after blow, though it somehow caused a giant cloud of dust to cover our view of the fight. _‘My room needs a lot more dusting than I thought…’_ And when the dust settled down, only one Pokémon was standing. Oshawott won the battle!

“YES!!! WE WON, WE WON, WE WON!!!” Oshawott and I cheered. I bent down to his level and ruffled his head as thanks, laughing joyously from our first victory. _‘Oh, before I forget…’_

I turned my head over to where Bianca and Tepig were, the little Fire-type just starting to regain consciousness. I brought my hand up to my head and swept my bangs out my face before finally saying, “Hey, you guys did pretty good too, ya know!”

Bianca actually seemed surprised by that. “Really?” She turned her head away pretty quickly, before stuttering out a reply. “Tha-thanks, Estelle…” B turned back to me again, quickly adding, “B-but you’re really good at this! Like, really, REALLY good! Are you sure you’ve never done this before, Estelle?”

“Hehe, nah, this was battle number one for sure!” I laughed nervously.

Bianca smiled back at me, then at Oshawott, who was helping Tepig back to his feet. “You’re gonna be an awesome Trainer someday; I just know it, Estelle!” Just then, another voice sounded out.

_‘Crap, I totally forgot Cheren was here! It was the excitement of battle, y’know?’_

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “If you two are done, would you mind taking a look around?”

_‘A look around? What’d he…’_

…

…

_‘Sainte putaine de merde… I’m doomed.’_

Everything was either turned to its side, upside-down, or completely broken. Somehow, there were footprints on the walls and there were trails of dirt and cloth everywhere. There was a gigantic crack in the TV and everything looked like someone used Whirlwind indoors (which honestly wasn’t _too_ far off). I could feel the color drain from my face and my soul starting to leave my body, only vaguely hearing Bianca praising the tiny Pokémon for their power.

Cheren clapped a hand onto my shoulder, bringing me back to reality when he started lecturing us. “Honestly, you two are hopeless… Fortunately for you two, I came here prepared.” He gave a smug smirk before rooting through his bag. Cheren pulled out a couple spray bottles with a purple liquid in them, bent down to our Pokémon and sprayed them with the Potions. As soon as he was done with that, Oshawott and Tepig shot to their feet, looking 100 percent better.

My black-haired friend then stood back up and took out his Snivy’s Pokéball. “Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Estelle, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!” He pressed the button on the ball, and with yet another red light, Snivy popped out, swishing her tail with an air of confidence. I held a deadpanned look on my face.

“You j-just wanted to battle this whole time, didn’t you?” Bianca asked, unknowingly voicing my own thoughts, and nudged him with her elbow with a teasing smile, but Cheren simply replied with an ‘innocent’, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He pushed his glasses up, causing them to glare.

“Besides, it’s unfair that only you two get to have a battle,” he reasoned. Bianca and I shrugged as I said, “Well, you got a point there, Cher.” I brushed my bangs out of my face again. Bianca followed with, “I think that if anyone could avoid turning this room into a disaster area like we did, it would be Cheren.”

“That’s right!” Cheren agreed. With that, that deadpanned look returned to my face yet again. _‘Geez, he coulda argued that a little bit, maybe spare our feelings.’_

My favorite nerd looked over at me and before a single letter could leave his mouth, I gestured for Oshawott to come back to me and asked Cheren, “So, we doin’ this or what?”

He nodded, and with that, our battle began.

“I think I’ll take the first move,” Cheren stated. “Snivy, use Tackle!” Snivy sprinted forward with impressive speed, but I wasn’t gonna just let him land a hit.

“Oshawott, get outta the way!!” Oshawott tried to move out of Snivy’s path, but was intercepted by the last second and got hit by Snivy’s attack.

 _‘Tch. Dammit. We’ll hafta look out for that speed…’_ I grit my teeth a little and decided to counterattack. “Tackle ‘er back, buddy!” He nodded with a small cry of his name and landed a solid hit on Cheren’s Snivy, knocking her back a few feet.

 _‘Hmmm… Looks like it can’t take a hit as well as B’s Tepig. I’ll hold onto that little tidbit,’_ I thought, then turned my attention back to the battle to see that Cheren just told Snivy to use Leer. Oshawott look kinda nervous from the opponent’s glaring, but quickly put on a brave face. Though, Snivy’s Leer gave me an idea…

“Tail Whip!”

Oshawott looked at me like I was crazy for a second before just complying with a demand even I wasn’t too sure about. He turned his back to his opponent and wagged his tail (rather cutely, might I add). Snivy didn’t have much of a reaction to it, but Cheren did tense up a bit if that counted for anything.

He was quick to call out his next attack though, shouting, “Use Tackle!” Snivy shot forward once again with great speed, but my reaction was faster.

“You Tackle ‘er too, Oshawott!” The little Water type met Snivy half the way before their heads collided with the other, Snivy looking a lot more exhausted from the attack while Oshawott just shook his head a little to ease some of the pain.

Cheren smirked when he saw this go down, commenting, “Using Tail Whip to lower Snivy’s defense and retaliating with a Tackle. That was pretty smart, I must admit.”

“Uhhh… YEAH, I _totally_ meant to do that!” I laughed, totally not bluffing at all, “Lowering her defense; that was my plan all along!”

“You’re overselling it.”

“Whaaat? _No,_ how dare y – yeah, pretty much. But anyway, TACKLE!!!”

Oshawott closed the already short distance between him and his opponent and delivered a devastating final blow, sending Snivy sprawling by her Trainer’s feet before she finally fainted, handing Oshawott and I our second victory.

“YES!!!”

Cheren pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and sighed, then reached down and went to heal his Pokémon with an oddly contented smile on his face. “I lost my first battle, but… I’m finally a Pokémon Trainer…”

Bianca and I smiled along with him. After all, we knew exactly how he felt. We were finally Trainers! We could go on a journey!

He healed Oshawott as well, then headed out the door and toward the stairs. “Anyways, we should probably go apologize to your mother about the mess up here. Plus, we still have to meet up with Professor Juniper and give her our thanks.”

With a sound of agreement from Bianca, the two (adorable) dorks made their way downstairs as I hung back for a bit, steeling myself for my mom’s reaction to the warzone that was now my bedroom. I then followed after them, and seeing that no one was in the house anymore, I took Oshawott into my arms and went outside.

Once we made it to the porch, I looked down to the little Water-type in my grasp and grinned. “Those two are prob’ly already at the lab, so let’s get goin’, yeah?” Oshawott gave a small chirp of agreement (at least, I _think_ it was agreement), and so we walked on over to the Pokémon lab. Oddly enough though, only Cheren was there.

“Yo, Cher!” I yelled, kind of miffed that we were waiting on her yet again. “Where’d Bianca go?”

He ran a hand through his hair, shifting a bit where he was standing. “She said something about stopping by her house, probably to pack some things.” He shrugged, sighing, “I mean, we _are_ going on a journey, and you know how she tends to leave things last minute, so…”

 _‘Makes sense.’_ I thought, before nodding at him and turning on my heel. “Gotcha! I’ll go help ‘er out with that then.”

“Oh, I can come help if you need it.”

I waved my hand back at him dismissively, saying, “Nah, you stay here. I’ll be back with the dork in no time.”

“Why do you always feel the need to call us dorks?”

“You know I say it with love, ya dork.”

 

\----------

 

“Can…can you not me-mention this to anyone? Please?”

I looked at the shorter girl with concern, noting that her voice trembled more than it usually did. Though considering what I just walked into, I don’t blame her.

“Bianca…”

“ _Please_ , Estelle?”

“…Fine.”

Of course, I was going to at least tell Cheren about this. He’s smarter than me, so he’d probably have a better idea on how to help. I mean, I’ve been yelled at by my mom for doing stupid shit all the time, but what just went down with Bianca and her dad seemed a bit more…worrying, I guess. What sucked was that I didn’t really know what to do to help her in that moment, seeing as this was a first. So, I just did what came naturally.

“Welp! We’ve kept Cher waitin’ long enough!” I cheered as gently as I could, as to not startle her so soon. I gave her a tight hug and then took her by the hand, leading her over to the lab where our friend was still waiting. “You _did_ get everything you need, yeah?”

“I-I think so…”

“Coolio. Let’s get going then!”

Cheren was kneeling down, reading that book of his while his Snivy sat next to him watching the clouds above when he noticed us coming, and quickly got back up to his feet. “Are you guys ready?”

Bianca smiled up at him and nodded, then quickly made her way inside the lab. Cheren watched her for a minute before looking to me and raising a single eyebrow, that being Cheren-ese for _‘Mind telling me what went down when you were gone?’_ , among many other things that could be interpreted as. I just mouthed a quick, “Tell ya later,” and pulled him inside with me, our Pokémon following closely behind.

 

\----------

 

I’ve been here a lot since I moved here, since my mom and the professor are good friends, but Juniper’s research lab never really fails to amaze me. Not even for the tech or anything like that, but more because of the fact that this is where most people in the small town of Nuvema have started their journey. A single Pokéball in their hand, a Pokémon right beside them, and a beautiful woman in a white lab coat standing in front of them with a dazzling smile on her face.

“Welcome, Trainers! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m—”

“We already know who you are,” Cheren and I interrupted her simultaneously, with Bianca already scolding us for doing so.

The woman merely replied with, “Oh I’m well aware, Cheren, Estelle, but events like this deserve some degree of formality, no?”

…Yeah, she had a point there.

She cleared her throat and started up her introduction again. “Anyways, I’m Professor Aurea Juniper, and I study when and how the creature’s known as Pokémon came into existence.” Juniper brought a hand to her hip and asked, “Now if you don’t mind, could I see your Pokémon for a moment?”

Bianca let her Tepig out of his Pokéball and the three starter Pokémon stood side-by-side in front of the Professor. She knelt down to their level and gave them a scrutinizing glance, then she smiled wider and banged her fist into her open palm. “It seems you’ve already battled one another! Pretty unusual, indeed!”

She nudged our Pokémon back over to us and seemed to think aloud, “Maybe that’s why they seem to trust you so soon…” The lab coat-clad woman stood back up and directed her attention back to us. “Anywho, as for the reason I decided to give you three Pokémon…”

“I’m correct in assuming it’s for the Pokédex, right?” Cheren chimed in like the smart cookie that he is.

“Pokédex?” Bianca muttered, tilting her head like a confused Lillipup. I was a bit confused too, since I didn’t immediately put together why she would need us for that, but I did get the general purpose of the tool. Seems you can learn things from TV after all.

“Sounds like someone did his homework!” Juniper cheered. “Though for everyone’s sake, I’ll go ahead and explain.”

The professor explained in better detail the purpose of the Pokédex, what it was, and why it was important that we help fill its pages. “And that’s the general gist of it all! So, with that being said, you will help me fill the Pokédex, right?”

We all gave the professor a resounding, “Yes!” to which she gave a thumbs up.

“You’ve given me the best possible answer! Then you’re all going to need these…” She strolled over to a desk and took some items from it before giving each of us a Pokédex and five empty Pokéballs.

Professor Juniper passed by us and headed toward the door. “Well then, I’ll teach you how to put those Pokéballs to good use. You three meet me at Route 1, okay?” And with that she left the lab.

After a moment of staring after the professor in silence, someone’s voice finally broke through the quiet. “S-so, since Professor Juniper asked us, it’s alright if we go on a journey, r-right?” Bianca cautiously asked to no one in particular. “May-maybe then, I could finally find what I wanna do in life…”

Cheren and I nodded at that. “Of course. You can— I mean, we _all_ can travel wherever and however we want while we fill up pages in the Pokédex,” Cheren acknowledged, then nodded his head toward the door. “Anyways, we don’t want to keep the professor waiting for too much longer.” And so, Cheren and Bianca returned their Pokémon to their Pokéballs, I had Oshawott perched on my shoulder, and we all exited the Pokémon Research Lab.

 

\----------

 

When we left the building, I didn’t expect to feel a tiny body hugging my leg, especially since Oshawott was definitely not on the ground right now. I looked down and saw that it was my little sister, Elaine.

“Hey, Ellie! Didja go tearin’ off by yourself again?” I cooed at my two-year-old sister. Ever since she learned how to walk, she gained a habit of wandering the second someone let her out of their sight. Honestly, that’d be more worrying if not for the fact that everyone knows everyone in Nuvema Town.

She just giggled and perked up at the sound of hurried footsteps approaching us, said footsteps belonging to my mom.

“Estelle! There you are!” she struggled to get out, panting for breath. Mom had a pretty large bag with her, one I recognized as one of the bags my dad took with him whenever wanderlust took him over for the umpteenth time. The last postcard he sent said he was still in Fortree City in Hoenn, which seemed to be his favorite place nowadays. Once my mom finally caught her breath, she stood up straighter and practically threw the bag into my arms.

“I packed some extra clothes, some food and drinks, extra blankets in case you get too cold—”

“Thanks, ma, I knew I was forgetting something.”

 “And your favorite pillow is there since we don’t want you getting a stiff neck from sleeping on the ground. –“

“Oh, that wasn’t necessary, but thank—"

“Also, I packed some cookware just in case you need to cook something if you’re camping, and of course we still had that collapsible tent, so that’s in there too. And—”

Okay, she was starting to ramble, so I interrupted her before she could enter Bianca-levels of rambling. “MOM, I got it. Thanks for getting all this for me—”

“Arceus knows she probably would’ve forgotten otherwise.”

“Shut up, Cheren,” I quickly shot back, before turning back to my mom. “But I’ve got this in the bag. Literally. No pun intended. I dunno where I was goin’ with this.” I sheepishly grinned and ran a hand through my long bangs.

Mom merely groaned, “I know, honey. I just thought I’d be used to send-offs, what with your father and all. But when it’s not a grown man, but your own child with minimal actual experience, you can’t help but worry…” She sighed heavily, ducking her head down almost dejectedly. “All of a sudden, I know how my parents felt when I left Shalour City…”

Well, when she put it like that…

“U-uhm… Mrs. Lissa?” Bianca gently cut in. “I know that you’re wo-worried, but… we’ll be right beside her!” She kept fumbling with the strap of her purse, yet another nervous habit of many, and gave my mom a small reassuring smile.

Cheren nodded as she said that, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he gave us a watered-down version of his signature cocky smirk. “Of course. You know we can’t leave her alone for too long, since we’re about eighty percent of her impulse control.”

I was going to make a retort at that, but thought about it and gave a shrug, admitting, “Eh, that’s fair.”

“So, you can count on us to keep her safe!” Bianca finished, light bouncing on her heels.

Oshawott felt the need to punctuate that statement by climbing down from my shoulder and looking up at my mom, then pumping a single tiny paw in the air with a confident cry. She stared for a moment, then broke out into a fond smile.

“Well, when you guys put it that way… You won’t be alone when you have these three around,” she admitted. “And I’ll still have Ellie and Althea here.”

I nodded back at her while taking Oshawott back up onto my shoulder. “Right! And I’ll still call, send postcards, th’ works.”

She sighed, then picked up Elaine, “I guess you really are your father’s daughter. Next thing I know, you’ll probably be halfway to Fiore or someplace once you’ve seen all of Unova…”

Just when mom looked like she ran out of things to say, she seemed to have remembered something. “Oh, and Estelle?” She gave a reassuring smile and a thumbs up. “You don’t have to worry about your room, okay? I’ll take care of it!”

 _‘…Oh right, that’s a thing.’_ I suddenly remembered the state my room was in. I get that my mom definitely wasn’t short on money to fix everything, but I thought she’d be at least a little mad about me destroying my bedroom… But anyways, I just soundlessly nodded, not really having any idea on what to say to that, and she seemed to be satisfied with that anyway.

Stepping back a few paces and waving a hand at the three of us, she yelled, “Well, I shouldn’t keep you guys for much longer. Stay safe out there! Bye!”

We all gave our own farewells and headed off toward Route 1, making idle conversation as we went along until we found ourselves at our humble little town’s exit. I went to cross the border, but startled back when Bianca gave a sudden shout.

“Waitwaitwait I have an idea!”

“Does that really warrant you scarin’ the hell outta me though?”

“Hehe, sorry. But I think we should take our first steps on Route 1 together!”

“But Bianca,” Cheren began to dispute, “we’ve been on Route 1 before. We played there all the time when we were little.”

“He kinda has a point, Bel,” I agreed. “Where were you going with this?”

“I was get-getting to that before I was rudely interrupted!” she shot back with no real bite to it. She cleared her throat and pitched her suggestion. “It’s just that this is our first time on Route 1 where we can-can actually go through the tall grass, y’know? Since we didn’t have Pokémon before, it was too dangerous… But now we can actually ex-explore the rest of the route without worrying about that!”

I hummed in consideration, putting one hand to my hip and another to my chin, a habit that Bianca has affectionately dubbed my “thinking pose”. “Yeah, I think I gotcha…” It looked like Cheren was actually considering it too, though he was being more subtle about it. With that, I decided.

“Let’s do it!”

“Yay!” Bianca cheered, adorably hopping in place with joy, then turned to our glasses-wearing friend with her deadly Lillipup-eyes in action.

He never stood a snowball’s chance in hell against those. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone be able to say no to the short blonde when she activates the Lillipup-eyes.

“Fine, I’ll indulge you on this one,” he playfully sighed, acting as if he’d just made the biggest decision of his life in that moment.

“Alrighty then!” Bianca cheered, then took our hands into her own. “On a count of three! One!”

“Two.”

“Three!”

And we took our first steps into a brand-new chapter of our lives.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After 3000 years, here's the first real chapter! As you may have guessed, Estelle more or less takes on the role of the BW protag. But while she is essentially filling in for White/Hilda/Touko/whatever you call her, Estelle is no doubt an OC. So if that's not your thing, then this may not be the story for you. She's actually the first original character I've made for Pokémon, so I hope you guys like her. And I hope I wasn't too off with my characterizations for Cheren and Bianca. I may have sprinkled in a few of my own headcanons as I was writing (which is something I just tend to do).
> 
> But yeah, feel free to leave a kudos or a comment, constructive criticism is welcomed (as I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing), and I hope you guys are enjoying this so far! 
> 
> See ya in the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins! This is the first fic I've ever written, so let's see where this goes. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.


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